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I agree with a Times-Union editorial that described the health care system as dysfunctional.

Before the start of the Affordable Care Act, the health care system was supposedly dysfunctional, too, but now it appears much worse, and the IRS will be in charge!

Costs are higher, access to health care has become worse, insurance premiums are higher and millions have lost their insurance.

And you have to expose yourself to identity fraud to sign up for the government plan because there is no built-in Internet security.

Many people trying to sign up for the Affordable Care Act find out they are candidates for Medicaid, which was meant to serve the truly poor.

One wag says that if you are signed up efficiently, then you are likely the victim of computer fraud. Unfortunately, this is not a laughing matter, and millions of Americans are affected.

Increasing government rules and regulations are causing this dysfunction. The more the government regulates, the worse the situation!

Health Savings Accounts are a simple solution to pay for your health care, but Obamacare will diminish or remove this cost-saving plan.

Insurance companies are not helping because the government has demanded increased coverage that doesn’t make sense, like birth control coverage for elderly nuns!

Excess medical coverage is not a luxury Americans can afford, especially in a stagnant economy.

Next, taxpayers will be asked by Congress to provide a bailout for insurance companies because they are losing money. Healthy persons would rather pay a tax penalty than buy expensive insurance that they don’t need.

The patient with the most freedom right now is the one who has no insurance and pays cash for medical care.

Market competition would drive down costs of medical care.

The bottom line is that voters need to put a stop to further government involvement and wasteful spending for the cause of universal health care

Dr. Choisser, thank you for your comments. The ACA is far from perfect and complex, but moves the ball forward for our uninsured in our country. While your opinion is important, Doctors for America is a group of over 16,000 doctors and medical students who support ACA.

According to the World Health Organization, the US has the highest costing healthcare system in the world, but ranks 38th in quality. Also, according to the Journal of American Medicine, the number one reason for personal bankruptcy in the country is lack of insurance or poor insurance.

To be frank, it is too soon to judge how Obamacare is doing as the current exchange and Medicaid expansion piece has only been in place for thirteen days. The earlier implemented portions expanded coverage for three million adult children under the age of 26, eliminated lifetime maximum limits, eliminated the underwriting limit on pre-existing conditions for children (which now has been extended to all - a key part of the law), and caused insurance companies to refund excessive premiums the last two summers.

As of 1/1, we have added 6.1 million people to the exchanges and Medicaid on top of the aforementioned 3 million. Getting people to use doctors in advance of critical need will only be helpful. The law provides avenues to do this.

As an Independent voter, we should follow the Chamber of Commerce recommendation to stop trying to repeal the law and make it better. Your opinion on making it better would be useful. Ironically, this law is largely a GOP idea that borrowed from Romneycare and can be traced back in part back to Heritage Foundation ideas embraced by Senator Bob Dole in his 1996 presidential campaign. Even former Senator Jim DeMint strongly advocated Romneycare for the country, until it was borrowed from to create Obamacare. Then he said both Romneycare and Obamacare were unconstitutional.

I would also advocate Florida follow other Republican led states (who have doneso or are considering) and the recommendation of the Commonwealth Fund, RAND Corporation and Economic Policy Institute to expand Medicaid. This will aid the state economy, hospitals and people in need. Plus, the Florida exchange premiums are higher (than they would have been) because of the decision made in Tallahassee not to expand Medicaid. The numbers are very compelling, which is why other GOP led states are looking seriously into this and several have doneso.

Again, Doctor, many thanks for what you do. Let's make this law better, not throw it out the window. Best regards.

Funny how it was CRITICAL FOR PASSAGE. That the estimated bill for the AHCA implementation come in under 1trillion and now at near 3 trillion, that is OK and the initial estimate was as much garbage as the bill itself.

I remember thirty years ago when my doctor friends were complaining that they would no longer make the money that they used to. So it was time to leave medicine. They have been whining for a long time that they no longer were the super rich and nor should they be. Wages for most professions have decreased and that is the way of America now.

The quality of heath care has decreased. I have experienced this personally with family and friends. Nurses continually make life threatening mistakes and it is dismissed. Doctors don't care or are too eager to pass off responsibility. There is no communication between a patient's myriad of doctors, and these doctors and the hospital staff. If someone dies, no one is held responsible. It was just a mistake. Everyone still gets their money. Who cares!

Don't blame Obamacare. Blame our rotten heath care system. And please don't try to convince me it is the best in the world. I know what I have seen in the past few years, and it stinks.

“Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage's whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. Civilization is the process of setting man free from men.”

13370 points

Bull Gator2

Saturday, January 11, 2014 @ 9:18 pm

Joe as usually you leave out very salient points. One the insurance companies are cushioned from loses by guess what? Yep tax payer subsidies to the tune of over $25 billion next year alone. Next Aetna, and Humana are both projecting earnings at the very best to be flat, and more likely a lose. The latest healthcare provider in the country United Health has opted out of the exchanges.

"Some insurers might like the free money, but many Americans don't. A survey by Investors Business Daily found that 65% of respondents oppose a "federal bailout" of insurance companies that lose money because too few healthy individuals enroll in Obamacare plans. There could be considerable public pressure to limit the risk corridor program."

"Also, losing money isn't a good thing for a business, regardless of whether or not that loss is cushioned somewhat. At least one analyst, UBS' A.J. Rice, predicts that WellPoint will lose around $236 million in 2014 because of Obamacare. Those losses could be even worse if the lower-than-expected enrollment experienced thus far results in fewer healthy Americans signing up for insurance."

Doctors are leaving the field because of the limits placed on them under obamacare.

You seem to confidently leave out some very important facts. As much as you like to say there is no free market, that simply is not true. We could shop around for providers, choosing the plan that best suited our needs. That option is now gone.

This is a very clipped response as I am trying to watch football and form a cogent statement at the same time.